


What are you really holding onto?

by SnowBlizzard



Series: TimDami One-shots [1]
Category: Batman - All Media Types
Genre: A little bit of angst, Attempt at Humor, Damian Wayne Feels, Damian sucks at it tbh, Fluff, I Tried, I think?, I'm just bad at writing them, M/M, OTP honestly, Probably ooc, Tim just wants to bond, damian bites, it's not that focused on the videogames honestly, they play video games
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-01
Updated: 2021-01-01
Packaged: 2021-03-11 07:48:14
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,508
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28467789
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SnowBlizzard/pseuds/SnowBlizzard
Summary: Tim sighs, "listen Damian, I want us to not try and kill each other every other day, and that means doing stuff together. I spent a bit picking out a game I thought you might enjoy even though you've never really played video games."Damian scowls before sighing. "Fine, but I will not hesitate to slam your head onto your desk if you try anything."
Relationships: Tim Drake/Damian Wayne
Series: TimDami One-shots [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2114445
Comments: 17
Kudos: 153





	What are you really holding onto?

**Author's Note:**

> Hi! I have taken my time writing this and it's my first time writing for another fandom other than South Park on AO3 so honestly I'm a bit nervous, haha. I appreciate all comments, kind or not, as they let me know what I should improve on.
> 
> Also, if you like my work, please join my [Discord server](https://discord.gg/YwMzZ27)! ^^ There's a lot of awesome people there (:
> 
> Title taken from "These Old Wings" by Anna Nalick

"It's not a discussion." If Tim were Damian he would've given up around ten minutes ago. Really, if Damian had just accepted the lecture he wouldn't even have been grounded. "What you did was wrong and not how we handle things."

"But Father that man clearly-"

Bruce just gave him that look, the one every single batkid was familiar with. Damian shut up and stomped up to his room to begin his two weeks long grounding. 

Despite their history as the years went on and they were the only batkids left in the mansion, they got along… okay. Tim didn't wanna say great, they still fought sometimes and Damian might've tried to shove him into a bookcase the other day but it was nothing Tim couldn't take. 

Tim's sigh alerted Bruce that he'd been listening in, he gave him a short glare, probably meant for Damian who was already gone, and turned back the batcomputer.

Tim normally wouldn't go after Damian, _normally,_ but he'd seen Damian get grounded before and the kid did not know what to do when grounded. He drew sometimes, not that he'd tell Tim that, but Tim had seen a few sketchbooks laying around his room or forgotten somewhere in the mansion. To Tim however, it seemed like he didn't do anything else.

He needed video games or something to keep him occupied. 

That's it- Tim would just have to teach Damian to appreciate video games and not have it turn into a fist fight.

Damian bites. Did you know that? He does, a lot more than probably necessary. Tim still has a slight scar on his arm from the last time he and Damian fought seriously. 

-

The first challenge came in what kind of video game Damian would like. Probably something action-y with a lot of blood. Ugh, can't be too sexual though- so GTA was out of the question. Kinda has to be pretty easy to learn too… hmm.

He thought maybe an online shooter might be good, like Battlefield but then he imagined what would happen in the voice chat and crossed that idea off almost immediately.

He eventually settled on The Walking Dead, the first season. He'd just have to hope Damian got invested in the storyline enough and you know, doesn't kill him when he invites him to his room.

-

He knocks on Damian's door right before dinner. Damian sighs, "father, I do not desire to hear one of your lectures once again."

Tim chuckles, opening the door to find Damian sitting in his desk chair, wafting through old case files. Huh, Tim had kind of expected him to be drawing. "No lecture, just me."

"Drake." Damian says simply. They're not especially close so it's kind of what he'd expected.

"Hi."

Damian stares at him expectantly, "well?"

"Oh! Right- come to my room after dinner."

Damian raises an eyebrow. Tim takes the chance to step inside the room and close the door. "You expect me to fall for your childish tricks, Drake?"

Tim shakes his head, childish? Honestly a bit rude. "It's not a trick."

"Say I decide to follow your orders-”

“They’re not orders,” Damian always has to have the upper hand.

"Say I follow your commands," Tim rolls his eyes, "what would happen to me?"

Tim dragged a hand down his face and sighed. "I'm not gonna kill you if that's what you're asking. Just wanna show you how to have some fun that's _not_ going on patrol or fighting."

Damian snorts, "I am pretty sure the point of a grounding is to avoid that sort of 'fun', however doubtful I am to your version of it."

"You're not leaving the house, are you?"

"I will admit Drake, I am still weary but I have no doubt in my ability to overpower you if it came down to that."

Tim rolled his eyes, _sure._

Seemingly curious, Damian asked, "what does this 'fun' entail?"

Tim flashed a grin, "that's a secret."

Damian growled. "This is stupid. You're stupid."

"Says the guy who talked himself into a grounding."

Tim left before hearing what Damian had to say.

-

After dinner, which Damian had to eat in his room because Bruce was seriously pissed. Tim was unsure what Damian had said but it must've been bad because whatever it was caused Bruce to be a lot more irritated than normal. 

Tim _hated_ when Bruce was mad at Damian because he hated sitting at the large table with only Bruce and himself. 

-

When he returned to his room he found Damian sitting on his bed, frowning.

"Oh hey."

"How was dinner with father?"

Tim snorts, "the same as it's always been."

Damian nods. "what was this all about?"

Tim's confused for a moment. "Oh yeah! I want you to play video games with me."

Damian raises an eyebrow, "video… games?" He sighs, "Drake, do you not have friends?"

"Haha, laugh it up. Is it so wrong I wanted to show my brother a game I like?"

"Yes."

Tim sighs, "listen Damian, I want us to not try and kill each other every other day, and that means doing stuff together. I spent a bit picking out a game I thought you might enjoy even though you've never really played video games."

Damian scowls before sighing. "Fine. I will not hesitate to slam your head onto your desk if you try anything."

 _Just you try,_ Tim thinks sorts of bitterly. Tim's pretty sure Damian can take him in a fight of pure strength, but Tim's better at tactical plans. That's why their fights always are so annoyingly even, until Damian _bites_ which is cheating. 

"Okay, so this is a story game. You will have control of your character and make choices for yourself and your people."

Damian looks at him confused, "I am a king?"

Tim wants to facepalm, "no, uhm, you'll see."

He eyes him suspiciously but takes the controller when it's handed to him. "You are not playing?"

Tim shakes his head, "it's a single player game, I just wanna watch you be a disaster."

Damian scowls at him but doesn't reply. He gets through the start screen pretty fast and starts on chapter one episode one. 

"Why am I in a police car?"

"You're being arrested? Alright look- now you have choices to choose from, just pick the one you want to say."

"It would be stupid to talk, anything could be uses against me in court."

Oh god, this was gonna be boring if Damian would be so serious about it all. "Okay, Damian, remember, it's only a game and it has no real life consequences."

Damian huffs, "what do you take me for, Drake? An idiot?" 

"Someone who picks boring choices."

He's pretty sure Damian has listened to 2% of the exposition so far.

"I simply pick the smart choices. Wait- why is there just a man standing in the-"

The sounds of a car crash can be heard through the TV Tim has in his room. 

"What the fuck is this Drake?"

Tim rolls his eyes, "you're three minutes in, keep playing."

As the character wakes to life he's injured and has difficulty shooting the now reanimated corpse of the police officer. 

"He's trying to eat me." Damian says it like the calmest person in the world.

Tim lets Damian figure it out and he does fine, until it gets to the part where you meet Clementine.

"You are kidding me Drake, right?"

Tim shakes his head.

"I do not want to have to take care of some child while the apocalypse is ongoing." Damian grins, "can I sacrifice her?"

Tim's heart stops, "you-- what?!"

He shrugs, a playful smile still on his face, "well, you did say it was only a game."

Tim crosses his arms, "no, you can't sacrifice the child to die."

"Sad."

-

It does not go well.

It actually ends in argument, actual argument, over whether Larry was right in saying Duck should be thrown out or not. 

You can guess who's on who's side.

"Are you mental?! You can't just throw out a child unless you're 100% sure he's bitten."

Damian scowls, "there was an undead on top of him, it does not matter if he was bit. What if it transfers through blood? Through bodily fluid, through scratches?"

Tim is stunned for a moment, before he gets his argument in check. "So you keep an eye on him, you cannot seriously be vouching for the death of a child because of uncertainties! That is insane! Do you not realize how insane that sounds?"

"No, because it is purely business."

"If that was me, would you throw me out?"

Damian stops for a second, his body stilling in thought. "That does not matter, it is merely a game."

Tim huffs crossing his arms. "I can't believe I thought we could maybe actually bond."

Despite how he probably should've been, he's not prepared for Damian to punch him, hard. It lands on his cheek and Tim stumbles before he notices the fire burning in Damian's eyes. He yanks Damian's hair and punches back. 

It doesn't stop until they've traded punches back and forth, broke a small wooden bookcase in Tim's room and even then it doesn't stop until Damian bites. The fucking cheater-

He bites him where his shoulders meet his neck, which is honestly pretty scary because a little bit harder and further up, he'd have broken something important. 

Before leaving the room Damian talks, panting, "do not speak to me again."

Tim's happy to keep that agreement up. 

-

When he wakes up the next morning Tim winces as soon as he looks in the mirror. Not from injures or anything- well yes, but--

The bite mark has swelled up and the teeth indent are visible. It's red and very sensitive to touch, it looks like Damian gave him that for pleasure. There was nothing pleasurable about their fight. 

He talks to Alfred about ordering a new bookcase and tries to hide the bruise before people start asking if he and Stephanie have gotten back together. Alfred's as professional as they come, so of course he doesn't say anything, but he is perceptive. 

Damian will get payback for this.

See, it wouldn't be an issue hiding the mark if Tim had any sort of clothing that covered his neck, but as it stands he's not that kind of person. He has suits for when he has to play the "goodboy persona'' of one of Bruce Wayne's children but other than that, he mostly has jeans, sweatpants and t-shirts. Comfort clothes he can use while coding. 

So unfortunately he can't do anything to hide it. That doesn't mean he won't chew (no pun intended) Damian out for giving it to him. 

Which is why he's standing at the brat's door, pounding. Damian opens immediately, ready for an emergency. He grows irritated when noticing it's only a very, very mad Tim Drake. 

"What the _fuck_ Damian?"

Damian actually looks confused. "What? What do you want Drake? I believe I asked you not to talk to me anymore."

Tim growled, he was usually the most calm of the Robin's (well… after Dick) but he didn't want Bruce to think his son was having sex with his surrogate son and he also knew, he would know it couldn't be anyone else, because Tim hadn't left the house yesterday and Stephanie wasn't in the manor at the moment. "I hate you."

Damian snorted, "I think we have established that before."

"No." Tim felt his hands grow into fists. He'd tried, so many times, to connect with Damian, form some sort of bond that didn't end with blood and broken noses. Time and time again Damian would punch him. "I never hated you, I tried-" he feels his jaw clench. He's not _really_ upset about the bite mark, (well, he is, just less) he's upset about Damian seemingly hating him when he's tried so hard to appease the younger boy. "I tried to bond with you. Many times. I won't anymore. I just-" Tim took a deep breath, unclenching his fists. "Never mind. Have a bad day."

Damian was scowling, but his eyes were surprised, like he hadn't expected the defeated tone of Tim's voice on the last sentence. 

Tim was glad, for once, that Damian was grounded during dinner. He and Bruce ate quietly before Bruce spoke. "Tim, if you get injured, don't be afraid to tell Alfred. Or me."

Tim was just about to eat a forkful of rice when he casts a slow look towards Bruce. He puts the fork down, "uh, yeah, of course. When haven't I?"

Bruce sighs, "you're lying."

Tim crosses his arms. "Okay fine, but never anything big. I _can_ handle myself."

Bruce's face looks cold as ever, voice void of any emotion as he says "I don't want to say this, because I hope it's not true. But if you ever get injured during an… intimate moment," (sex, Tim's mind helpfully supplies) "You can tell me. I'll have Alfred patch you up, and help you deal with the situation."

Tim's mind goes blank, this isn't a friendly warning. This is accusatory. "What- what are you talking about?"

Bruce mentions towards the junction where his shoulder melts into his neck. Tim groans in embarrassment, feeling color flood his cheeks.

Bruce thinks someone is injuring his during sex. Great. Well… Damian's already grounded, maybe he can just say the truth.

"Actually, your son did this." Tim feels his own eyes go wide, "not like that! He punched me so I punched back and it ended with him biting me."

Bruce looked like he wanted to pinch his nose and slam his face into his food. 

"You've got to get that kid to stop biting."

In a more relaxed-like manner than he'd been speaking the whole time, Bruce sighed heavily, nodding encouragement to Tim's statement. 

When he went to bed that night he smeared the red and irritated mark with some salve Alfred had given him. It stung to prod it and the salve helped cool it slightly. 

He dreaded the day he and Damian had to go out on patrol together. But for now he was satisfied with the fact that Damian simply wasn't allowed to until he'd repented. 

-

"Do you truly hate me?" 

Tim raised an eyebrow, not expecting Damian to be sitting on his bed after he gets home from patrol, which mind you, is about two in the morning. He slowly closed his bedroom door. "Uh-" What was he supposed to answer? He didn't _hate_ him per say, but Damian definitely wasn't his favorite person at the moment. He sighed, crossing his arms. "No."

Why was Damian here? He thought he'd asked him never to talk to him again. 

Damian nods and god- Tim is so tired from patrol. He'd stopped three muggings, a drug deal and an arsonist. He just wants to sleep but Damian is dragging his hands on his jeans like he's trying to dry them of sweat. "I don't hate you either."

Tim almost wants to laugh, "you punch me more than any villain."

Damian nods, "I- I do not know why." It's a rare moment. An extremely rare moment in fact. Damian never gets sentimental, he doesn't even show weakness. But Tim's getting him to stutter, to be unsure. It's weird and it honestly sickens him a bit with how unnatural it feels.

"You don't know why you punch me?"

Damian shakes his head, "I think- I think I just want Father to like me the most." 

_Oh._

Tim can feel his heart beat faster. He knows exactly what's happening. Every Robin's been through it, Damian just reacted in a more… aggressive way. He sits down beside Damian. "I know what you're going through."

Damian shoots his head up. "You do?"

Tim nods, "yeah. Listen, we all want Bruce to open up, to, _well,_ care. You'll learn that he does, just shows it in another way. We all want Bruce to like us the most, it's okay. You want to eliminate competition," putting it like that feels weird, but how else would he have said it? "I get it. Just uhm, no biting if you plan on keeping up the fights."

Damian groans. "I do not want to."

Tim raises an eyebrow, "fight?" 

Damian nods, "not you, at least. I might be the only rightful son of Father, but I truly do not despise you. And… it was kind of fun to rile you up."

Tim stares at him before chuckling, "you are sick." 

Damian bows, and hey, who knew that he could be funny? "Your one and only."

-

Tim stares at the offending item. Damian is not this careless with his things and even if he is, Alfred will pick them up. Despite that there lies a beige-brown sketchbook smackdab in the middle of the stairs leading up to the bedrooms. 

Tim's kind of just… been staring. He's seen Damian draw, he's seen him forget sketchbooks here and there (never drop like it seems he's done now) but he's never actually seen a drawing of his.

Tim's moral compass betrays him as his curiosity strikes. Damian might not be trying to kill him anymore, but they're still not on the friendliest terms. It's easy to disagree with Damian, because he keeps having _stupid_ ideas, but it no longer ends up with blood spatter and wounds.

Tim looks around quickly before picking the book, telling himself he'll return it once Bruce and Damian get back from talking to the GCPD. 

He's not quite sure how he got to the moral justification that it was okay to look at the sketches when nobody was allowed to.

What he found was… shocking to say the least. Damian was really, really good but that's not what was shocking, no, that was the usual motive.

_Birds._

Damian drew a whole lot of birds, all detailed. On a few there were backgrounds, half finished where it looked like Damian gave up, or beautifully done and depicting different places he'd spot birds.

The latest sketch was of a face, though nothing more than the most basic of outlines had been completed. It honestly looked like Dick, which made Tim chuckle. 

Damian, for the ball of anger he was, had always (sort of at least) looked up to him.

-

"I was hoping to find you here."

Damian turned around, looking a bit irritated at the interruption. "This is my room, Drake."

Tim rolled his eyes, "I know, I was- you know what? That's not the point. I found one of your sketchbooks. You really should stop leaving them around the manor."

Damian sighed, muttering, "I was looking for that."

Tim stretched his arms, them being tired after coding for a few hours. "So how'd it go at the GCPD?"

Damian took the sketchbook, putting it in a drawer in his desk. "It went fine. They wanted to know if we had located a location yet."

"And have you?"

Damian shook his head.

Tim hummed, "well… I'll see you at dinner."

Damian didn't answer, but that was fine.

-

He's not exactly proud of it, but he's feeling down about failing a mission and when Stephanie offers comfort in the form of alcohol and hugs, he can't exactly say no. 

She's only visiting for a few days, but she's one of his best friends and it feels good- _great,_ in fact, to simply exist with her closeby again. 

He's a little drunk (okay, he's regular drunk), and suddenly all he wants is coffee and one of Alfred's newly baked croissants, those that he only ever makes when Tim asks him. The clock, however, is around 2am and it's getting a bit too late to ask Alfred to bake for him. The guy deserves his sleep too. 

"You really want coffee don't you?" Stephanie laughs, she's a lot drunker than him and he worries that she would plant into the carpet face first if she tried to stand. Luckily she lets him go while whistling a horrendous version of what he thinks is a Taylor Swift song. 

He worries that he'll fall to his death as the step of the stairs melt together and the edge of his vision blurs together. 

He eventually makes it downstairs, only _almost_ tripping on the last step. With the coffeemaker in sight his new challenge is to actually make decent coffee- or, well, it doesn't really have to be decent, just can't be too strong. 

Getting water where it should be in the maker goes fabulously, but in his sluggish state he has forgotten where the coffee grounds are located. He stumbles through the ridiculously large kitchen, accidentally slamming the cabinets as he went. Where the fuck did they hide the coffee? 

That's when Damian stomps down the stairs, looking frustrated. He's only wearing a pair of pajama pants and socks and Tim might or might not look at the abs that are defined on his stomach.

"Drake! What are you doing?"

Tim jumps, almost losing his balance for a second. "Coffee but the- the coffee bean thing- bag is gone."

Damian looks at him curiously, eyes narrowing. "I thought someone broke in with all the noise you were making."

Tim laughs, "sorry."

Damian crosses his arms, "what are you laughing at?" When he doesn't get an answer Damian rolls his eyes, "the coffee beans are in the second cabinet to the left of the stove, first shelf."

Tim checks there and the bag is really there. "Fuuuck yes. I've been craving coffee like crazy."

Damian raises another eyebrow, he seems interested in Tim's behavior. "You are not acting like yourself." He notes.

Tim laughs, "I might've had a liiiiiitle bit to drink." He pours the coffee grounds haphazardly into the maker, it's probably gonna be strong as shit but honestly, Tim can't bring himself to care.

"Alcohol?"

Tim snorts, "yes, Damian, alcohol. Steph's up there whistling to pop songs."

Damian's eyes narrow for the 50th time today, "you're drunk?"

Tim nods before realizing how much that hurts his head and gripping his forehead. 

"You are so irresponsible," is what Damian finally says. "What if an accident had happened and you were up there with Brown, drunk? Crime's not gonna wait for you."

Tim rolls his eyes, "Bruce's out there, he's got it under control."

"You are unbelievable."

Tim clinks a mug down on the counter and begins filling it with the way too strong coffee. He ignores Damian's previous statement, "you want some? It's pretty strong."

Damian rolls his eyes but sighs and accepts with a mutter of "I'm awake now anyway." 

"How does it taste?" Damian asks after a bit of both of them sipping on their coffee that actually makes Tim feel a bit sick.

"Gross." Tim answers.

Damian snorts, "I meant alcohol."

"The flavor of alcohol itself is really gross. It burns going down your throat and makes you feel horrible."

Damian looks at him like he's insane, "so why drink?"

To this Tim only shrugs. "I-" he taps his fingertips on his mug absentmindedly, "I think for most people it's a way to escape reality for a little bit, forget responsibilities and all things that need to be done."

Damian hums, "sounds quite sad."

Tim shrugs. 

After setting the mug down he finds himself unable to actually get his legs into motion. Maybe he's drunker than he realizes. 

"Have I been slurring my speech this whole time?"

Damian actually laughs at that. "Yeah."

So he's been hearing himself perfectly fine but he probably just sounded like the biggest idiot in the world. 

He sits down in one of the chairs in the kitchen. "I- I don't think I can get to my room."

Damian narrows his eyes, setting his own mug down, "you are kidding me Drake, right?" 

Tim shakes his head. 

"Oh for- I will not carry you."

Tim shakes his head again, despite drinking the strongest coffee he's ever had, his eyes feel droopy and he just wants to sleep.

The last things he feels and hears is Damian, with a surprising amount of strength, pulling Tim into him and swearing about how stupid he is.

-

Tim groans as he wakes up, the first thing he notices is the pounding headache he has. The second thing is how tense his body is.

He tries to move his neck but it makes a cracking sound and causes even more pain, he tries blinking and letting his eyes adjust, a feat that proves harder than he thought. Jesus, where is he?

His back is stiff and he now knows why his neck cracked so loudly when he turned his head. He's on the sofa Damian has in the far corner of his room. Damian's sofa might as well be made of pure stone by the hardness.

God dammit, Tim needs to drag his ass down and get some medicine. 

Wait- why is he in Damian's room?

-

"Because you locked your door, idiot." Was Damian's answer when he dragged himself downstairs and took some medicine. 

Oh right, Tim's recently gotten into the habit of locking his door and window when he leaves, for no other reason than that he doesn't want anyone looking through the things he's coding. But now it's worked against him as his whole body pulses with the stiffness. "Why is your couch so rough? Jesus."

Damian huffs, "if you cannot handle one simple couch, Drake, how can you handle a supervillain?"

Tim frowned, "easy, I just get them drunk and lay them down on your couch. They'll be begging for mercy the next day."

"My bed is the same."

"You are the son of a demon."

Damian grinned, "perhaps… though I don't think Father would appreciate you talking about him like that."

Without missing a beat Tim says "I'm talking about Talia."

Damian freezes and Tim should know better, his mom is one of the few extremely sensitive topics to Damian. He immediately backpedals. 

"Shit- I- sorry." 

Damian looks down, he seems to be thinking for a bit. Eventually he sighs, "are you up for sparring?"

Tim jumps, not expecting that. He wants to say yes, let Damian get out his aggression in the way he knows best but… his body is pounding and his head is trying to self-destruct. "I- I'd like to but I'm still hungover."

Damian sighs, "alright, I wish you well Drake. And you know, if you want it, my couch is always an option."

Tim cringes, "no thanks, I've gotta go check on Steph."

Stephanie turns out to be fine, a little moody from being hungover but nonetheless fine. 

-

He does end up sparring with Damian a few days later, mostly to train. He's sparred with people before, of course he has. He's fully trained afterall, but it feels different with Damian. It goes from Damian taking out his agressions in a way more healthy way than fights in the Livingroom, into something… weird. Something else.

Damian punches harder and for a moment it seems like he's given up on sparring and really wants to try killing Tim. Tim dodges all the same, trying to kick the back of Damian's knees and get him on the floor. It doesn't work and Damian lets out his signature war cry which he usually doesn't during training and it startles Tim (yes, he's supposed to be on his feet but honestly, it's surprising. Maybe Bruce is onto something that feelings can hinder you performing your best during a fight) into stopping.

He blinks and then he's on the floor. He doesn't know how long they've been doing this, but he's suddenly exhausted. 

"Thank you," Damian says softly. Their faces are a little too close and Tim should probably say something but he doesn't. He just keeps his gaze locked over Damian's shoulder until he feels him sigh and get up.

"That was productive." Damian declares once Tim has stood too. 

Tim nods, it's weird how easily Damian was able to overpower him once he was distracted. He's usually not that easy to distract… or overpower. Maybe he'll need to work on that, or something.

Damian nods courtly and then they go their separate ways to shower.

-

"Tim?" Stephanie questions as she sits on the opposite side of the room. 

Tim's a bit annoyed at being pulled out of his work while he's able to progress more than he's done in weeks, but he answers nonetheless. "Yeah?"

"What's going on with you and Damian?" She has the questioning smile and tilt of her head, but her eyes tell a different story. Her eyes are knowing and that has always scared Tim, if he's being honest.

"Oh, we made up… sorta. Less fights."

Stephanie nods. "Nothing… more?" Her face shifts from questioning to just generally knowing. Like she knows something that Tim doesn't. 

Tim life an eyebrow at her, saving his progress on his laptop and closing it, pushing it to the side as he turns around to face the bed in his swirly chair. "No… nothing more."

"Uh-huh, so how come he's so open with you?"

Tim raises a questioning eyebrow.

"You brought up his mom," Tim nods, not knowing why he even told her that. Maybe he just felt guilt. "And he didn't even try to stab you. Didn't even raise his voice."

Tim narrows his eyes at her. "We're closer than we used to be."

Stephanie falls back onto the bed, "keep telling yourself that."

Tim's not sure he even wants to know what goes through Stephanie's head a lot of the time, least of all now.

-  
  


Patrol with Damian is like Patrol with any other person, it's business and they don't talk much other than relaying information.

They notice some henchmen transporting chemicals of some sort and that becomes the nights focus, they work together at taking them down and Tim even stops Damian from junping right into it and just trusting his abilities. There's more of them than they've expected and finding out information about where and why they're delivering the chemicals isn't easy while also trying to avoid being killed.

Tim gets shot in the arm somewhere during the fight, but the adrenaline rushing through his veins help counteract it and he manages even with the bleeding and heavy breathing. A quick look and feel of his arm confirms the bullet went straight through which is good, _great_ in fact, because he doesn't have to scoop it out himself in waiting for Bruce to send a car. 

As soon as the last guy goes down (courtesy of Damian, Tim's adrenaline rush is rapidly fading) he sits down against the brick wall of the alley, hand clutching the wound. 

Damian looks at him oddly, "are you hurt?"

"Did you not see the bullets flying?" He's breathing hard, trying to counteract the pain of it. Jesus christ why didn't he make the arms of his suit bulletproof.

"I did but I-"

Tim clenches his teeth, "just ask Batman to send a car." Damian nods and he can faintly hear him speak with Bruce through a communicator. 

Then suddenly he's closer, looking if Tim's got any other injuries. He's got a few bruises under the armor but nothing fatal or visually terrible, and nothing that Damian can see. Tim doesn't bother telling him anyway, they only feel like small bruises. 

He doesn't say anything as he swats Tim's hands away from his wound, replacing them with his own and the pressure suddenly gets a lot heavier.

"I think the bullet went straight through," Tim supplies although he's not _totally_ sure but he thinks.

Damian nods, looking as serious as ever. "Okay, just-- you'll be fine."

Tim's a bit shocked. He's fine and he _knows_ he'll be fine. Damian however seems considerate, kind and… worried? It's weird to see and hear Damian talk in that soft voice towards him, scratch that, it's weird to hear Damian speaking softly _at all._ Damian is the opposite of soft. He can't find it in himself to argue against that voice so he sighs, closes his eyes and goes "okay." 

He hates feeling this weak, but his exhaustion gets the better of him and he blacks out.

-

When Tim opens his eyes again he immediately sees that he's in the cave, or more the cave's medical area, hidden away with a small door. What the fuck? Why is he so _weak?_ Plenty of other superheroes have gotten shot in way worse places than their arm and not passed out.

It’s sort of embarrassing as he looks up at Alfred's face. “Ugh,” is what masterfully comes out of his mouth.

“Ah, glad to see you’re awake Master Tim. I had to fish the bullet out of your arm and I’m afraid it worried me a bit.”

Tim groans, so he misjudged? Great. Just fantastic. “Thank you Al.”

“No trouble, you know, Master Bruce goes through this more times than I can count.”

Tim nodded, snickering slightly.

“It’ll be sore for a few days and I hope you’ll go easy on it, but otherwise you’ll be alright in a matter of days.”

“Thank you Al.” He repeats.

-

“How’s your arm?” Damian asks that morning during breakfast. Normally they don’t really have breakfast together, but they woke up at around the same time so why not?

Tim moves it, “good.”

Damian nods curtly, but then he sighs, “you seem embarrassed.” 

How Damian knew that might forever remain a mystery. “I am.”

“Why? I cannot understand being embarrassed by injuries unless they were made by a much weaker being.”

“Those henchmen were pretty weak,” Tim shrugs.

“I meant the guns.”

“Oh.”

“Really, Drake, there’s no reason to be embarrassed.” When did Damian get so… soft? He’s seen hints of it all throughout the week and he’s really not sure what to do about it. “You cannot help how bad you are.”

Ah, there it was. Still, Damian had a playful smile on instead of the usual scowl of pure hatred he wore while saying stuff like that before. “Yeah,” Tim agrees instead of fighting it like he usually would. He’s feeling low and self-loathing, like he’s not meant to be a superhero if one simple shot to the arm can take him out of the fight. 

Damian’s smile falls into a frown, “no comebacks?” Tim shakes his head, Damian sighs. “I am not kidding Drake, you do not have any reason to be embarrassed. I- I probably would’ve done the same.”

Tim looks up, giving Damian a faint smile before getting up to wash his plate. 

-

Later that evening, he gets a knock on the door. He expects it to be Alfred, making sure he’s not going on patrol and actually waiting for his arm to heal. What he gets instead is Damian, looking determined as all hell. Tim shifts his eyebrows upward in surprise.

He’s about to ask what he’s doing here as Damian invites himself in and makes room for himself on Tim’s bed. “I want to play videogames.” It’s simple, direct and to be honest, Tim finds it hard to say no to such a voice.

So he nods, despite not understanding why, saving his work and pushing his laptop closed, setting it on the end table. He begins shifting through his games, “what do you wanna play? I’ve got some shooters, some story based games, a few-”

“Whatever is good.” Tim looks up at him curiously, what is Damian on? He’s never this friendly, he doesn’t interest himself in Tim’s hobbies, he doesn’t willingly go along with what Tim wants _ever-_ what is going on?

“Damian-” he starts then cuts himself off with a sigh. He’s getting bonding time, that’s what he wanted from the start right? Okay, he’s gonna take full advantage of this. “Have you ever played any of the Tekken or Smash Bros games?”

Damian shakes his head.

“Neither? What have you played.”

Damian seems to mull it over for a bit, “Super Mario.”

Well, it’s a start. Tim nods his head once, plopping in the cd for Tekken 7 and handing Damian a controller. 

“What is this game?” Damian asks as the title screen pops up.

“A fighter game, you against me. I’ll walk you through the button presses and such after you choose your character.”

Damian seems intrigued, his playful smile returning once again.

-

The score ends up being 17-2, courtesy of Tim. It’s not hard to beat Damian since he’s barely ever held a controller before and being on the end of his trash talk turns out to be very worth it those two times he wins, Damian’s smile lights up like a christmas tree and he hops around excitedly, maybe he says a thing or two about “you suck,” or “I am the master,” (the second one of which makes no sense to Tim) but it’s still worth it.

They eventually stop playing after a while. Tim powers off his ps4 with a yawn. “Hey Damian?”

“Hm?”

“Why did you come here?”

Damian’s face falls and he almost looks reluctant, “I- you seemed down. I was trying to cheer you up.”

Tim feels his heart race, that is so considerate he can’t believe this is Damian, well, if it weren’t for those piercing eyes. Unconsciously he moves closer to the edge of the bed where Damian is currently sitting and for once, without thinking, he hugs him, tight. He feels Damian freeze up at the unfamiliar gesture before toned arms wrap around his torso. “Thank you,” he says simply. He does feel better, he felt better even when he was pouring himself into his work, but Damian’s considerate side (a side Tim wasn’t even sure he had if he’s being honest) has brought his happiness way up. 

Then he notices the toned arms, the eyes that gleam, the cute and unsure way Damian has his hands wrapped around him. Oh god, he’s attracted to him. Like a lot. 

He wonders what he can get away with in the moment to pass off as just a regular hug, but he eventually decides against it. The hug ends kind of awkwardly and Damian quietly leaves directly after it.

-

“I think I have a crush on Damian,” Tim says it low, just in case anyone would overhear.

He can hear Stephanie choke over the phone, _“you what?! Tim are you insane? I love the kid and all his freaky smiles and revenge things but- the guy’s tried to kill you multiple times.”_

Tim frowns, “as have many people.”

_“But you haven’t wanted to date any of them! Jesus Christ- okay- I’m rooting for you, I always will but holy crap. I hope you’re kinky in bed because I can’t even begin to imagine the stuff Damian would be into.”_

Tim flushes, “what- no- Steph!” 

She laughs, _“I’m kidding! Of course, though, are you sure he’s really the love kind of person?”_

Tim sighs, “...no.” 

_“Aw Timmy, I really do hope the best for you.”_

“He’s so sweet when he wants to be, Steph. Caring and all, and he can be even sweeter, I know it. I’m just- this isn’t the same Damian who left me to bleed out.”

Steph hums, _“I hope so, just be careful okay? And don’t be afraid to call!”_

“I won’t.”

-

They’re out on a mission a couple of weeks later, only them. It’s weird to be given assignments with Damian, crimes and plans he’s spent weeks researching and then not going for it alone or relaying the information feels odd. 

But it all goes surprisingly well, they manage to get answers out of the guy they need and the rest are left mostly unharmed except a few broken bones caused mostly by Damian. But the lackey’s were though, and adrenaline is still rushing through both of their bodies as they land on the nearest rooftop. 

“You did good out there,” Damian says and while it’s becoming more common, it unnerves Tim everytime he gets complimented, well, he’s unnerved until he becomes flattered.

“Thanks, you were too. Did you get a new weapon?” Tim’s standing pretty close but it’s not uncommon these days.

Damian hums, “yeah, or, not new but new for me. I borrowed a few of Bruce’s shock things- to be honest I am not sure what to call them.”

Tim eyes them for a bit, they kind of look like some deadly version of a fidget spinner. “Yeah, me neither. It was cool though.”

Damian moves even closer, “you think?” Tim can feel Damian’s breath ghosting on his face.

“Yeah,” It’s kind of a squeak but it really doesn’t matter as Damian is pushing closer and- they’re kissing.

They’re kissing.

They’re kissing because Damian wanted to. He wanted to kiss Tim. It’s a little bit overwhelming, so much that it shocks Tim into standing still like he’s been frozen. Then all he can do is whine pathetically and kiss back with all the strength he can muster. 

He nips on Damian’s bottom lip, earning a small deep sound that shouldn’t be as hot as it is. Damian also opens his mouth a little, allowing Tim’s tongue to slip in. Damian’s mouth tastes like spices, and that’s another thing to add to the ‘shouldn’t be as sexy as they are’ list. 

He takes his time mapping out Damian’s mouth, sighing pleasurably whenever Damian makes a sound or drags him closer, like he’s been starving for physical attention. The kiss itself is slow, but Damian’s hands are frantic, seemingly unsure of where they want to touch. One hand ends up tangling itself in Tim’s hair, pulling and petting, drawing noises out of Tim that he’ll deny he ever made. The other finds itself on Tim’s hip, squeezing and pulling him impossibly closer. All the while Tim’s hands have stayed comfortably on Damian's hips.

He hates it, absolutely abhors it, but he does actually have to breathe, despite how much he wants to continue this, so Tim pulls away. For a short moment Damian chases after his lips, but eventually he gets the message that they probably should breathe and pulls away too. 

They stand there panting for a little bit, both in their superhero costumes and a roof in the middle of the city, Tim can’t help but crack up.

“What, Drake?”

Tim laughs even harder, “we just kissed, Damian, you can call me Tim.”

Damian narrows his eyes at him, “why are you laughing, _Timothy?_ ” 

Tim crackles until he’s out of breath again and has to clutch Damian’s shoulders to stay upright. “It’s just so- so bizarre. I mean look at where we are, _who_ we are, what we thought of each other a few months ago.”

Damian cracks a half-smile, “I suppose it’s a bit… funny.”

Tim snorts, “yeah. Uhm, Damian?” Suddenly the funny moment is gone as soon as Tim realises he’s got questions and kind of wants answers pretty soon.

“Yes?”

“Why did you kiss me?”

Damian blinks at him, eyes narrowing, “why did you kiss back?”

“Because you’re cute.” 

For a short while Damian seems taken aback, blinking rapidly and then a blush spreads like wildfire over his face. He’s never even seen Damian flustered so seeing him blushing… is a lot to take in. “Do not… refer to me as cute. I am not a puppy.”

Tim chuckles, “god you are so cute,” he doesn’t know why he keeps saying that, but it feels right. 

Damian punches him (lightly) in the shoulder. “I am not cute, I can kill.”

“World's cutest killing machine.”

“I will actually punch you.” Before Tim can get another tease in, Damian speaks again, this time with a sigh and avoiding eyes. “I like you, so I kissed you. It’s simple.”

“Have you ever drawn me?”

“What?”

“In that sketchbook of yours, was that human me?”

Damian seems to be thinking for a moment before nodding, “wait- whenever did you see my sketches?”

“You know when you left them on the stairs?”

Damian gasps, “you dick!” time to cross that word off of the ‘things he’s never heard Damian say’ list. “Those were private.”

Tim sighs, “I know, I felt really guilty after. But you’re a good artist y’know?”

Damian nods and suddenly he shudders. Apparently he’s in the opening up mood as he says, “when you hugged me in your bedroom, I wanted nothing more than to kiss you.”

Tim smiles at him, “you sap.”

Damian frowns, but his eyes show that he’s still happy despite. “I’m the opposite of a sap.”

“Mhm, totally. Gonna wake up tomorrow with you in my bed, clinging to me.” Tim’s not sure where he’s got this confidence from but he _loves_ it. Teasing Damian is as fun as ever.

Damian mutters out a “maybe,” and before Tim can question it he’s pulled into another kiss.

It’s not like he’s complaining, he’s getting Damian at his most vulnerable, and what more could he really ask for?

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading! Please drop a comment (I absolutely love reading comments) or kudos (: <3 
> 
> I hope you all have a great 2021! :D


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